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Northern Rock Cuts Mortgage Rates Across Its Range

Northern Rock has reduced mortgage rates both across its core residential and Buy To Let ranges, and its selection of Intermediary Exclusive products.

First time buyers will benefit from many of the changes as Northern Rock continues to offer support to those with smaller deposits. 2-year Everyday fixed rate mortgages at 85% LTV (15% deposit required) with no product fee are now available from just 4.38%.

The lender has also made a number of reductions to its ‘with fee’ products, for customers who choose to pay a product fee in order to access a lower interest rate. 2 Year Fixed rates with a £995 fee start from 2.99% up to 70% LTV (30% deposit).

For borrowers who are looking to fix their interest rate over a longer period Northern Rock also offers competitively priced 3-Year and 5-Year Fixed rates. 5 Year Fixed rates start at 3.99% with £995 fee up to 70% LTV (30% deposit).

Northern Rock also continues to offer Fee Saver Option (FSO) products for consumers who are looking to keep their fee costs as low as possible. The lender has simplified the pricing on its Fee Saver Options, with standardised premiums of 0.45% on 2-year products, 0.40% on 3-year products and 0.35% on 5-year products. Remortgage customers will also benefit from Northern Rock’s incentive of a free basic valuation and free standard legal costs.

Northern Rock has made several improvements to its BTL product range in recent weeks, and has now made rate reductions of up to 0.70% on its BTL Fixed rates and Trackers.

Buy to Let Fixed rates for customers choosing to pay a £1,995 product fee start from 3.89% at 60% LTV (40% deposit). Borrowers with a 30% deposit (70% LTV) can opt for a 2-Year Everyday Fixed rate mortgage with a £1,995 fee at 4.10%.

Alongside the changes to its core product range, the lender has also improved the Fee Saver Options within its range of mortgage products available exclusively through Northern Rock’s intermediary partners. A 2-year FSO exclusive to brokers at 70% LTV (requiring a 30% deposit) is now available from 3.25%, while the equivalent 3-year product is available at 3.64%.

Everyday mortgages offer customers simple, straightforward mortgage deals with competitive rates and the ability to make overpayments of up to 10% each year, as well as the option to apply for payment holidays. Northern Rock continues to operate its mortgage product range within the constraints of the competitive measures agreed with the European Commission.

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Northern Rock Highly Commended For Responsible Business Practice

Northern Rock was given a prestigious national award from The Prince of Wales’ Business in the Community (BITC) charity, for its work to help tackle financial exclusion.

Last month, BITC awarded Northern Rock with a ‘Big Tick’ for its on-going project to help rebrand, relaunch and support Bridges Community Bank, formerly South Tyneside Credit Union. Judges were so impressed with the nomination that Northern Rock was also selected as one of only two North East organisations to be shortlisted for the coveted title of ‘Example of Excellence’ in their respective categories.

Last night, representatives from the bank including Executive Chairman Ron Sandler, were highly commended in BITC’s ‘Building Stronger Communities’ for 2011, at a gala event sponsored by Unilever at The Royal Albert Hall.

The national ‘Big Tick’ award is the first level of award available to entrants of the national BITC Awards for Excellence, which recognises inspirational programmes that have a positive impact on the community, the environment or wider society. Northern Rock was one of six companies to achieve it this year before being highly commended in the category of the UK’s Example of Excellence in Building Stronger Communities.

Northern Rock’s contribution involved a team of employee volunteers skilled in a number of disciplines helping Bridges Your Community Bank. It continues to support Bridges as part of its flagship community programme which focuses on assisting those in financial difficulty.

Mr Sandler said: “We are honoured to have received this additional commendation, and to have been shortlisted as Business in the Community’s Example of Excellence 2011, for our important work in the local community, in this instance for our work with Bridges Your Community Bank.

“Our Big Tick Award is proudly displayed in Northern Rock’s head office so that our colleagues and visitors alike can see what has been achieved due to the hard work and dedication of our employees. I look forward to adding this additional tribute and hope it acts as a source of real inspiration and pride for everyone connected with Northern Rock.”

Stephen Howard, Chief Executive of Business in the Community said: “I congratulate Northern Rock on achieving its Big Tick. It is a challenging time for business, but this is a sign that companies are not losing their focus and are transforming their businesses to make a positive impact on people and society; and are prepared to lead by example. That’s what Business in the Community’s Awards for Excellence is all about – celebrating responsible business, the leadership that makes it happen and the benefits to the business and society of doing so.

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Rugged Ways Climbs New Heights With Web Site Launch

Bangor – Rugged Ways, an outdoor clothing and equipment retailer, is working with SecureTrading, a top payment gateway services provider and the UK’s leading independent payment processor, to manage its global payments processing through its new web site.

Rugged Ways new site was designed and built by Ascensor, who work closely with SecureTrading for the payment processing, based on the company’s reputation of excellent customer service and a secure payment platform.

Sam Spence, Director at Rugged Ways, said, “We wanted a website to support our Skipton store in North Yorkshire. It was important that we found not only a company who understood what we wanted from a web site but that our payments system was robust and could properly support trading at all times.”

Tim Allitt, Head of Sales & Marketing, SecureTrading, said, “We’re delighted to be able to support the payments of a business like Rugged Ways which is venturing online for the first time. It’s crucial that when a business moves its products online that it is confident that its customers payments will be processed quickly and without issue so they receive a great experience regardless of the channel they choose to shop via.”

Ascensor built a filter system for Rugged Ways so that its customers can search for products via colours, sizes etc. Andrew Firth, Director, Ascensor, said, “It took us approximately four months to get the website operational. It needed to be built from scratch and we have worked hard on the search engine optimisation strategy. This is a big step for Rugged Ways and we’re delighted to be helping them on their journey.”

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Standard Life Charitable Trust and Shelter Partner To Help People In Need Of Financial Advice

The Standard Life Charitable Trust is providing funding to housing and homelessness charity Shelter for three telephone advisers at the charity’s housing advice lines in England and Scotland.

Shelter’s housing advice line provides support to those who are in debt and behind with rent and mortgage payments, as well as offering advice on a range of other issues including eviction and repossession. The helpline gave advice to almost 50,000 people across England in 2010 alone.

A recent survey by Shelter* showed that more than one in ten (11%) people face a constant struggle to pay their rent or mortgage. With unemployment high, the cost of living increasing and the possibility of a rise in interest rates ahead, more and more people are contacting the charity for help to manage their finances and stay afloat. In the first three months of this year Shelter saw a 30 per cent increase in calls to its helpline.

The Standard Life Charitable Trust is an independent charity established in 2009 by leading long term savings and investments company, Standard Life, and is focused on supporting people most in need of help managing their finances.

The Trust’s donation will fund three full-time telephone advisers at Shelter’s helplines until May 2012 allowing the charity to reach an additional 7,300 people with housing advice.

Shelter’s chief executive Campbell Robb said: “In these uncertain economic times many people are struggling to make ends meet and more and more are coming to Shelter for help.

“Thanks to this donation from the Standard Life Charitable Trust we will be able to reach even more people. Our advisers can stop things from spiralling out of control and help people get back on their feet.”

Baroness McDonagh, Chair of the Standard Life Charitable Trust said: “The Standard Life Charitable Trust is focused on supporting groups who could benefit most from help and advice to improve their financial capability. We are delighted our donation will fund additional Shelter advisers so they can help more people who are at risk of losing their home, many of whom are experiencing severe financial problems.”

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Saxo Bank Launches SaxoTrader 2.5 with Improved Navigation and Position Management

Saxo Bank, the specialist in online trading and investment, has announced the launch of SaxoTrader 2.5, the latest update to its multi-asset class trading platform. The new version includes improved navigation and added features to manage positions and orders, and is available to customers from July 2011.

Saxo Bank has replaced the old SaxoTrader menu with an intuitive, easily navigable ribbon-style toolbar. The menu items are now grouped by function which takes up less screen space whilst making the breadth of functions available more accessible and simple to use. “News and Research” as well as “Account” tabs enable users to easily access all the information they need. In addition, new product icons clearly differentiate the various products tradable on the platform.

Enhanced position management features include a module allowing users to view and manage positions and related orders in one integrated workflow. This enables to flexibly close positions, set stop and limit orders, and provides users with a customisable display of all open and closed positions. A heatmap visualisation gives them an additional instant overview of the performance of their positions.

Henrik Dyrholm Holst, Head of Platform Management at Saxo Bank, commented:
“SaxoTrader 2.5 is designed to make trading even faster and more efficient. Nowadays, traders demand intuitive tools that are rich in data and analytics. SaxoTrader is a multi-asset trading platform with a specific set of tools for each asset class. We have therefore focused on making the trading experience for all types of traders as positive and intuitive as possible, and clearly guide users through the broad range of features on the platform.”

This latest release is a subset of the functionality Saxo Bank will be adding to SaxoTrader. The Bank will continue to upgrade the platform in phases this year.

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Saxo Bank Wins Two Awards At The World Finance Foreign Exchange Awards 2011

Saxo Bank, the specialist in online trading and investment, has been named “Best Forex Broker in Northern Europe” and “Best White Label Solution Provider” in the World Finance Foreign Exchange Awards 2011. This accolade acknowledges Saxo Bank’s position as an established FX house and its leading role in the foreign exchange market.

Kim Fournais and Lars Seier Christensen, founders and co-CEOs of Saxo Bank, said in a joint statement: “We are delighted that Saxo Bank has won these two awards. Modern traders and investors demand usability, mobility, performance, and service when executing online trades, all of which we will continue to provide our clients with.”

Saxo Bank, which is renowned for aggregating liquidity from the world’s leading FX dealers, facilitates Forex trading on three different online platforms, covering the needs of those who are new to the Forex markets as well as professional investors who demand a wide selection of trading instruments and a variety of product types for multi-asset portfolio creation.

Saxo Bank’s many years of experience in the online trading business and accumulated knowledge of the markets as well as the needs of clients translates into a proven success formula for completely scalable White Label solutions. The solution is built around a customised version of Saxo Bank’s award-winning platform and then branded under the White Label Client’s name.

The World Finance Awards are chosen by an expert panel. They identify industry leaders, individuals, teams and organisations that represent the benchmark of achievement and best practice in the financial and business world. Now in their fourth year, the awards reflect a wider spectrum of financial services and related industries than ever before.

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Confused.com Reveals Big Rise In Prices For New And Learner Drivers

Confused.com has revealed that newly qualified drivers can expect to pay around £2,000 or more to insure a small hatchback this year as the cost of insurance continues to soar.

This time last year the cheapest premium for a new driver insuring a Ford Ka for a year came in under £900. Now the best quote for a newly qualified driver wanting to insure a Ford Ka has soared to more than £1,900, according to consumer research by the popular comparison site Confused.com.

The Fiat 500 Pop now tops the list of most popular vehicles for a newly qualified driver, based on 6 months of quotes from Confused.com during the first half of 2011. Unfortunately, for many newly qualified drivers it will cost more than £1786 to insure it. The Fiat 500 knocks last year’s favourite, the Vauxhall Corsa, from the top spot, becoming the most popular choice in this Confused.com study of learners and drivers who passed their test within the last 12 months.

Confused.com’s head of car insurance, Gareth Kloet said: “The Fiat 500 is a new favourite with freshly qualified drivers – this model didn’t appear at all in the Confused.com top ten for new drivers last year. The popularity of these cars may have been led by their use by many driving instructors, and also by the relatively cheap insurance cost compared to other small cars.

“Getting reasonably-priced car insurance can be a nightmare for younger drivers but 50% of under 25s could save up to £571 on car insurance* premiums by using Confused.com to find the best deal. With rising premiums it’s more important to compare prices now than ever before.”

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Payday Express helps pave staff career paths

Employee development is at the top of the agenda for short term loan provider Payday Express, which has recently created a new Group Trainer role for one of its rising stars.

Emma Furlong began work at Payday Express in September 2008 and progressed quickly from the role of Customer Support Agent to Senior Customer Support Agent, and then Customer Support Team Leader.

After recognising her passion and aptitude for training and mentoring staff, the payday advance loans company helped Emma to develop her new role and formally launch it in February this year.

Since then Payday Express has also been funding Emma’s place on a training course, with the aim of her attaining a CIPD certificate in Learning and Development Practice. She has so far passed all modules – the only person in her class to have done so – and hopes to become an associate member of the CIPD.

Emma’s journey has been similar to the advancement of many other staff members at Payday Express. Jamie Clifton, who began as an Administrator, is now a Junior Business Analyst; and Charlotte Morris and Ann Shepperley, who started as Customer Support Agents, have now embarked on careers as UAT Testers, where they are helping to test new systems and improvements to their instant approval payday loans website.

Other recent promotions include that of Lara Toomey, who has risen from Debt Administrator to Senior Debt Administrator; and Therese Rydberg, who has progressed from Marketing Administrator to Marketing Executive.

Richard Turner, HR Advisor at Payday Express, commented: “We are always looking for people who wish to develop their careers and will always invest time and money in someone who shows drive and passion to succeed.

“Emma is an excellent example of this. There is nothing better than seeing someone progress and it shows all employees that the opportunity is there to go down any route they wish to.”

With this focus on career development, Emma and Operations Manager Sarah Carroll have worked together to develop an intensive internal Trainee Team Leader (TTL) programme, which has been undertaken by Collections Agent Paul St Ledger and Customer Support Agent Marcus Tibbals, with a view to becoming department Team Leaders at the end of this month.

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Saxo Bank’s ForexTrading.com adds new product offerings

Saxo Bank, the online trading and investment specialist, has announced the addition of 12 CFDs on major stock indices and 7 commodity CFDs to its ForexTrading.com platform for private traders.

ForexTrading.com was launched by Saxo Bank in early June 2011 and provides traders with browser based and downloadable trading platforms, supporting a range of the world’s most liquid forex, and CFD instruments at competitive spreads.

Claus Nielsen, head of markets at Saxo Bank, said: “The addition of stock index CFDsand seven further commodity CFDs to ForexTrading.com now enables private investors to trade in the most liquid contracts across a range of asset classes. The majority of clients use ForexTrading.com as a no thrills account to trade currencies, however we want to make sure that they have the opportunity to leverage the opportunities they see in other asset classes.”

“We expect dedicated index and commodity traders to enjoy the tight spreads for the CFD indices. The indices are priced competitively with the UK 100 and Germany 30 indices spread going as low as 1 point and the US SPX500 as tight as 0.75 points.”

The minimum initial deposit when opening an account with ForexTrading.com is $2,000 or equivalent, and no interest will be paid on funds on deposit. ForexTrading.com supports retail trading accounts and offers support and service in English.

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Confused.com designs new pothole warning sign

Confused.com has designed a new road sign, specifically to alert road users to the UK’s two million potholes*. The road sign is the first of its kind and the car insurance expert is petitioning to urge the Department for Transport to introduce it to roads across the UK.

A constant source of frustration for drivers, the sign has been developed in response to recent findings that even with sufficient budgets; it would take councils at least 11 years to repair the UK’s damaged roads**. With this in mind, 82% of drivers would like to see a road sign dedicated to potholes.

Mike Hoban, chief marketing officer at Confused.com said: “Although repairing these roads is obviously the long term solution, something needs to be done now. Currently the UK’s road signs include warnings for wild horses, wild animals, cattle and even toads but potholes aren’t considered worthy enough? A pothole road sign is a vital step in preventing accidents and reducing insurance claims whilst road maintenance continues.”

The road sign design was inspired by local pothole crusader Ted Relf, a plumber from Kent, who made national headlines in April 2010 when his home made warning sign against potholes was removed by the local council.

Ted Relf commented: “We all moan about potholes and now we have the chance to do something about them. I created my own pothole sign last year because I was concerned for the safety of drivers on my road. I fully support the introduction of an official pothole road sign and urge the nation to sign the petition at Confused.com.”

The pothole road sign has been produced in accordance with the signage guidelines set by the Department for Transport and is the brainchild of Phil Baines from Central St Martins, University of the Arts London. Baines, designer and signage expert, added: “Warning road signs are there as a safety measure to warn drivers of potential dangers, and potholes certainly fall within that category. Given the scale of the current problem I would welcome a specific pothole sign being added to the Traffic Sign Manual.”

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Russell Investments launches new online information suite

Russell Investments has launched a new dedicated website specifically for retail financial advisers.

The new online portal, available direct from the Russell Investments UK homepage, brings together the most relevant investment information from Russell’s extensive range of detailed and unbiased industry analysis and allows financial advisers to cut through the noise to hone in on the topics which are important to them.

Alongside this, advisers will be able to quickly navigate through Russell’s tools and investment services which can help them get under the bonnet of its funds, build and manage client portfolios, and enhance the value added to clients’ investments.

Adviser visits to Russell’s website have tripled since its launch in March which is a clear indication that the provision of online help and support is increasingly vital.

Danny Callaghan, head of IFA sales at Russell Investments, said: “Financial advisers need support so they can spend their time generating value for their businesses, and advising their clients. They are bombarded with news and investment information from a variety of sources and it can be difficult to steer a course through the content and find the relevant pieces.

“Russell has teams of experts across a wide range of investment capabilities and they regularly produce insightful and impartial commentary – so we have made advisers’ lives a bit easier by consolidating this into one place alongside the tools they need to help provide the best investment advice for their clients. We want to help them spend as much time with their clients and less time searching for information and support – our new online information suite does that.”

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elephant.co.uk reveals young men have more expensive car crashes

elephant.co.uk has revealed that while many men like to think they are the superior gender when it comes to driving, new research from the car insurance specialist shows men have bigger crashes that cost more money than women.

elephant.co.uk looked at more than 200,000 claims and found young men in particular have more expensive crashes. Accidents involving men aged under 25 cost on average 15% more than those involving women of the same age. In fact, the cost of accidents involving male drivers of all ages is 6% higher than accidents involving women.

To help improve the driving ability of both men and women, elephant.co.uk has joined forces with Fifth Gear’s Tim Shaw and made three short films which can help any motorist learn how to drive like a professional and control their car should they get into trouble.

The insurance videos (http://www.elephant.co.uk/drivelikeapro) contain tips and advice from a professional driver and reveal how to manage a car if it begins to skid, how to corner safely and why vision is so important when it comes to reacting quickly and braking in a safe manner.

elephant.co.uk managing director, Brian Martin, said: “Since passing our driving tests most of us might have picked up some bad habits and probably don’t give too much thought to improving our driving skills. But driving well can mean more than just keeping out of trouble on the roads.

“At a time when most of us are trying to save money, as well as demonstrating how best to control your car, our films also reveal how smooth and efficient driving can help your car perform at its peak and be more cost efficient.”

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Payday Express Scores with Staff Sports Sponsorship

Short-term loan provider Payday Express continues to focus on investing in staff wellbeing by sponsoring an employee’s cricket team as it strives for victory in its second season.

After sponsoring a staff five-a-side football team during the winter months and seeing it grow quickly into a seven man outfit, instant cash loans provider Payday Express is now sponsoring Kent Ramblas for the cricket season.

Kent Ramblas was founded by Payday Express data co-ordinator Michael Cooper with a group of friends in 2009, as a way to play regular sport together. This community spirit is supported and encouraged by Payday Express, which is committed to its staff both at work and in their external pursuits.

Michael said: “Before the start of our second season we sorted out a new home ground and a larger fixture calendar of 16 games – as well as a new kit, thanks to Payday Express.”

The team is now midway through its second season and is working hard towards its first win, after seven losses so far in 2011. Despite the scorecard, the team remains undeterred and is focused on continued improvement. With having achieved a draw in its latest game, hopes are high for the nine games left to play this season.

Michael is also looking forward to the honour of being captain at Kent Ramblas’s first ever 20/20 match on 22 June.

Payday Express Operations Manager Sarah Carroll said: “Our aim is to give something back to our staff members and invest in them as people, not just employees.

“Pursuits such as this outside of work are good for a person’s continuing development, encouraging teamwork and healthy competition, which are also essential business traits. We are always looking for opportunities to support and motivate our staff.”

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Northern Rock Adds Helpful Savings Video Guide To Its Website

Northern Rock has added another helpful video guide to its interactive savings website to help consumers with their savings choices.

The video – Northern Rock’s Guide to Savings – is the third guide in the series recently introduced by the bank to add a further dimension to its award-winning website. Existing videos include Northern Rock’s Guide to ISAs and First Time Buyers Guide, which can be viewed on the Northern Rock website alongside the new addition.

The newest guide is designed to help customers make the most of their money in an accessible way, by highlighting the need to consider debt and budgeting as well as the benefits of the wide range of competitively priced savings products on offer at Northern Rock.

The colourful video guide, which is also available via the bank’s YouTube channel, covers key areas such as planning for emergencies and saving for a rainy day.

Northern Rock offers a range of variable and fixed rate savings products, including online savings accounts, instant-access products and tax-free savings options. Northern Rock also offers customers a free savings review.

Further detail about Northern Rock’s range of savings products is available on the website, which is populated with useful advice and information for different savings customer groups, financial planning information and at-a-glance guides to help people choose between different types of savings account.

The site also includes a range of interactive tools such as a jargon buster and budget planner to help take the complexity out of selecting the right savings product for a customer’s own individual circumstances, and a product calculator for each of Northern Rock’s products, such as a mortgage calculator and a calculator for its Cash ISA, to help work out the estimated return on investment.

Northern Rock customers also benefit from the bank’s unique savings promise. This is a commitment to its customers that it will provide a minimum of two months’ written notice of any reduction to the interest rate on their account. Where customers have a notice period for access to their funds of greater than two months, Northern Rock will give them that equivalent notice period of any reduction to their interest rate. Northern Rock will also write to all savings customers at least once a year with details of all its available variable rate savings accounts. And it will give savings customers a minimum of two months’ written notice of any changes to the terms and conditions of their account.

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Saxo Bank Stays With Riis Cycling in 2012

Saxo Bank and Bjarne Riis, owner and manager of Riis Cycling A/S, have announced that Saxo Bank, a sponsor for the cycling team since 2008, will remain co-title sponsor in 2012 with SunGard, one of the world’s leading software and technology services companies.

Bjarne Riis said: “It is indeed a great day for our cycling team. Saxo Bank is an extremely professional company, so I am proud that Saxo Bank has a strong faith in our work and continues to see the commercial benefits in sponsoring our team.”

“Since 2008 we have shown in both words and actions that we are a great match, and I am convinced we will continue to grow together because of the obvious benefits in a long term relationship. The continuity in our partnership also means a lot for the riders and for me personally. Now we can focus all our attention on creating results and the working process of putting together a strong rider group for next year.”

Saxo Bank, the online trading and investment specialist, recently launched Saxo Privatbank, combining traditional banking services with a professional investment universe, and the bank says it has taken a strategic decision to continue the sponsorship in 2012.

In a joint statement, Kim Fournais and Lars Seier Christensen, co-CEOs and co-founders of Saxo Bank, said: “Saxo Bank has always believed it was a sound commercial decision to support Bjarne Riis and the rest of the team but at the same time, it is hard to exaggerate the impact Bjarne Riis has on Danish and international cycling. We have a genuine desire to support Bjarne and provide the team with the necessary resources it takes to stay on top. Bjarne Riis and the team are a huge inspiration and motivation for many young talents, and Saxo Bank is proud to continue to ensure a world class cycling team in Denmark.”

The name of the team will remain ‘Saxo Bank-SunGard Professional Cycling Team’.

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Payday Express Takes A Leap For Charity Concern

A brave employee of short-term loan service Payday Express is taking the plunge for charity on June 27 by doing a solo skydive in aid of Concern, which supports poverty-stricken communities in third world countries.

Payday Express and its staff are sponsoring contact centre agent Kylie Taylor to undertake her plucky move after a two-day training course. Kylie will jump from the plane alongside her instructor – but without the reassurance of being attached.

Kylie said: “This is my first charity event but I’m hoping it won’t be my last. Next I want to move on to more daring events to raise more and more money.”

Concern was founded in Africa in 1968 and works in both emergency situations and long-term development programmes. On 13 June, the charity organised a meeting in Washington DC with campaign group Bread For The World entitled 1,000 Days To Scale Up Nutrition For Mothers And Children, to pressure G20 leaders to make a financial commitment to improving nutrition in the world’s poorest countries.

Payday Express Operations Manager Sarah Carroll said: “This is such a worthy cause and we’re honoured to be able to help. One of Concern’s main schemes is in Quetta, in Pakistan, where it runs drop-in centres for children who make money for their families by scavenging on rubbish tips and selling their finds.

“Concern offers education, food and healthcare, as well as the chance to play with toys. The charity also supplies protective clothing to protect the children from injury and infection; and training in manual trades to give them a better chance for the future.”

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Vebnet Announces Partnership With vielife

Vebnet has enhanced its employee benefits, offering to allow global access to an online health and wellbeing solution, by partnering with employee health solutions specialist vielife.

Employers using Vebnet’s reward and flexible benefits technology can now offer their employees a personalised, multi-language and interactive health and well-being service through vielife Online. The service lets employees measure and monitor their sleep, stress, nutrition and physical activity levels and encourages them to make healthier lifestyle choices, while helping employers to improve employee engagement and combat reported rises in sickness absence.

Employees start by taking an online assessment. This forms the basis of a personal report which identifies any areas of concern in their lifestyle and gives practical advice on how to address them. The recommendations can also be tailored to help employees make the most of the benefits their employer provides. Employers can also build lifestyle communication programmes to support employee engagement and employees can regularly re-assess themselves as their lifestyles change.

For Vebnet, part of the Standard Life group, the partnership with vielife provides a multi-modal health and wellness platform that is integrated within its own global employee benefits and reward portal. Importantly, vielife Online’s management reporting capabilities can help employers pinpoint specific staff health and wellbeing issues, creating highly targeted corporate employee health and wellbeing strategies strategies which in turn lead to greater employee engagement with Vebnet’s technology and higher solution return on investment.

Mike Beason, managing director, vielife, said: “As the population ages and organisations downsize to cope with economic pressures, more employers will start taking an interest in the health and wellbeing of their employees.

“Our technology provides a platform for global businesses who want to help their workforce make healthier lifestyle choices. Wellbeing is no longer perceived by employers as just another company perk, rather it’s a highly effective channel for increasing productivity, reducing sickness absence and improving job satisfaction.”

Richard Morgan, director of consultancy, Vebnet, commented: “Our reward and flexible benefits portal is already helping employers to enhance their total employment proposition and this latest addition forms the cornerstone of creating a joined up approach to health and wellbeing strategies.

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Standard Life Warns Public To Inflation Proof Retirement Incomes

Standard Life is warning anyone thinking about retirement to consider the effects of inflation eroding their income. New data released today by the savings and investments specialist shows that many people could see their retirement income swallowed up by the basic costs of living within seven years, as the effect of inflation impacts their spending power.

Using Office for National Statistics data and official Government inflation figures, Standard Life has calculated that someone with a personal pension pot of £80,000, buying a level annuity, will spend their entire monthly income (from private and state pensions) on basic living costs like food and fuel within just 7 years of retirement*.

John Lawson, Head of Pensions Policy at Standard Life said: “The cost of living is rising fast for most people in the UK, but this can be particularly acute for pensioners. Their spending habits are driven by commodities such as food and fuel bills and these inflation rates are much higher than the overall UK inflation rate**.

“People need to consider how to protect their buying power in retirement from the ravages of inflation over a long period of time, which could be 30 years or more. If pensioner inflation remains at around 6% a year, people with a fixed income could lose almost half of their spending power within a ten year period.

“There are many options to consider at retirement which could minimise the impact of inflation on your income, so seeking professional financial advice is vital.”

For further information on inflation proofing retirement income, and the choices available, interested parties can visit www.standardlife.co.uk/retirement_solutions/search.html.

Via EPR Network
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Banks, Bonds, Checking & Savings, Financial, Financial Services, ISAs, Mortgage, Personal Finance

Northern Rock Cuts Mortgage Rates

Northern Rock has reduced mortgage rates, making its range even more competitive. As well as reducing selected rates across its core mortgage range by up to 0.50%, it has improved its 2-Year Fixed rate deal available exclusively through Northern Rock’s intermediary partners. The product is now available at 2.99% for those with a 30% deposit (70% LTV).

All of the remaining reduced deals are available to both purchase and remortgage customers, the latter benefiting from Northern Rock’s usual incentive of a free basic valuation and free standard legal costs.

Northern Rock has reduced rates for customers with a 25% deposit. A 2-Year Everyday Fixed rate deal with a £995 product fee is available at 3.19% for those with a 25% deposit (75% LTV). The same deal is available without a product fee, priced at 3.65%.

Alternatively, those with a 25% deposit (75% LTV) can choose a 3-Year Fixed rate mortgage with a £995 product fee at 3.93%, and a 5-Year deal with a £995 product fee is 4.59% up to 75% LTV. Those who choose not to pay a product fee, can secure the same product at 4.79%.

Competitive Buy to Let rates start from 3.39% for a 2-Year Everyday Fixed rate mortgage with a 3.5% product fee, up to 60% LTV. Those preferring a flat fee of £1,995 can choose a 2-Year Fixed rate up to 60% LTV, priced at 4.79%.

Everyday mortgages offer customers simple, straightforward mortgage deals with competitive rates and the ability to make overpayments of up to 10% each year, as well as the option to apply for payment holidays. Northern Rock continues to operate its mortgage product range within the constraints of the competitive measures agreed with the European Commission.

Via EPR Network
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